Stairway to Heaven.
Stairway to Heaven.
Sometimes, we just need a little indication of where to go.
A beautiful little late season snow - almost all the way down to the valley floor - presented the opportunity for a fun morning ski session.
This past winter season I have become very used to setting the first skin track up most of the local mountain peaks.
How so?
Well, between work and family life my ski touring has been conducted mostly during the early morning hours.
Very early.
As in 3am early.
As in no one has been crazy enough to head this way this time of day yet, early.
So, you can imagine my pleasant surprise on a recent late season - on what most people would consider early (9am, but super late for me) - ski tour start towards a peak on the opposite side of the valley to our house, when I saw two people had started before me.
How do I know it was two people?
You get used to reading the skin track, almost like wildlife trackers reading animal tracks in Africa, for this type of information.
This meant I could move a bit faster, because I didn’t have to make the first tracks through the snow.
Win for family time later on.
But what I wanted to highlight, as the title of this post eluded to, was that sometimes being shown where to go - even if you’ve been this way before - can be a revelation.
Now, as most experienced ski tourers know, you don’t just blindly follow other skin tracks.
You always make sure about your own route by navigating yourself.
But sometimes, even though you know a route well, you can learn something new from other travelers.
As was the case for me.
I knew the route well, but due to the fact I had a set of tracks to follow (while keeping my own navigation in mind), I learned a new way of achieving the same goal.
The same starting point.
The same mountain peak as the goal.
Two different routes.
What was the revelation?
Well, besides that the strong winds of the last while resulted in some icy (and fun skinning) conditions higher up?
In the middle part of the route, you can go high or low, and I have always gone more high.
What I learned on this occasion, though, was that taking the lower route on this section had certain safety precautions built in (depending on conditions).
You live you learn.
But this got me thinking:
In life, when we do get an indication of where to go (literally or metaphorically), it may just be worth considering, no?
Oh, and the ski down?
It was heavenly :)
Do you have any interesting stories or thoughts to share?
Simply hit reply and let me know / comment below.
Have a great week!
—
Until next time ✌🏽.
Cornelius
Last week’s blog / newsletter:
Enjoy this newsletter?
Forward it to a friend 👉🏽 sharing is caring 😊.
Join the Crew?
If you’d like to keep sharing the visual stoke together, sign up for Alpine Dispatches.
Looking for more / to connect?
You can find me on Instagram (photography, life, family) and X (photography, discussions, thoughts), as well as my website (portfolio, trying to be an adult 🤷🏼♂️).
Ways to support my work:
Subscribing (for free 🤠, or paid 😍) and joining the discussion.
Kitting yourself out in Seasonal Vagabond merch, here.
Investing in a fine art photographic print here.
Grabbing a set of b/w backgrounds for your phone here.
Contributing to a goal of mine here.
Or simply just buying me a virtual coffee here.